The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem has accused radical Israeli teams of threatening the presence of Christians within the holy metropolis, in remarks that Israeli officers rejected as baseless, Reuters experiences.
In a column within the Instances of London on Saturday, His Beatitude, Theophilos III, stated he believed the purpose was to drive the Christian group from Jerusalem’s Outdated Metropolis, which has websites sacred to Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Israel captured East Jerusalem, together with the Outdated Metropolis, together with the West Financial institution and Gaza Strip in a 1967 conflict. It annexed East Jerusalem after the conflict in a transfer that has not gained worldwide recognition.
“Our presence in Jerusalem is beneath risk,” the patriarch wrote within the article, revealed a day after the Greek Orthodox celebration of Christmas.
“Our church buildings are threatened by Israeli radical fringe teams. By the hands of those Zionist extremists the Christian group in Jerusalem is struggling significantly, he stated.
“Our brothers and sisters are the victims of hate crimes. Our church buildings are often desecrated and vandalised. Our clergy are topic to frequent intimidation.”
By singling out extremists as Israeli, Theophilos’s criticism was extra private and trenchant than that of a collective assertion issued by the heads of different church buildings in Jerusalem earlier than Christmas.
Their assertion spoke of “frequent and sustained assaults by fringe radical teams” however stopped wanting figuring out them as Israeli.
READ: Jerusalem Archbishop slams ‘Israeli prejudice against Palestinian institutions’
A U.S. State Division report revealed final 12 months on spiritual freedom world wide stated Christian clergy and pilgrims continued to report cases of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem harassing or spitting on them.
Church teams have for a while reported assaults of vandalism at spiritual websites within the metropolis. Theophilos didn’t accuse any radical teams by title or cite particular incidents. He didn’t present proof that they had been Israeli, or that their aim was to drive Christians from the town.
On Sunday, an Israeli official stated the truth on the bottom for Christians was utterly completely different from that described by the patriarch, citing a International Ministry assertion on Dec 22 that rebutted the sooner church leaders’ claims.
“Because the day it was established, the State of Israel has been dedicated to freedom of faith and worship for all religions, as nicely to making sure the liberty of entry to holy websites,” the ministry assertion stated.
“The assertion by Church leaders in Jerusalem is especially infuriating given their silence on the plight of many Christian communities within the Center East affected by discrimination and persecution.”
In his column, Theophilos stated the radicals that he criticised “aren’t consultant of the state of Israel or the Jewish folks,” and referred to as on Jerusalem to stay a various “mosaic group” of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
